A trio of hopeful NBA stars who played their college year(s) in Los Angeles were drafted #3, #4, and #5 in the NBA draft tonight. Following the predictable 1-2 draft picks of Derrick Rose (to Chicago) and Michael Beasley (to Miami), O.J. Mayo, who starred as a freshman guard at USC last year was selected by Minnesota with the #3 pick. UCLA teammates Russell Westbrook, a defensive whiz and the first pick in this years......

With one season left in his contract, the Kings announced that they fired coach Marc Crawford. "We appreciate Marc's commitment the two seasons he has been here," Dean Lombardi, the team's president and general manager, said in a statement. "However, we believe that in evaluating where we are at and, more importantly, where we are going as an organization, we feel this coaching change was the right decision to make," he said. "We wish Marc......

I'm guessing someone went out to celebrate last night, as a couple local college boys were chosen in the first round of the 2007 NBA Draft. USC's Nick Young was the first to go, at pick number 16 to Washington, where he will toil in obscurity and probably be irrelevant in three years. Just kidding -- he might fit well in the Wizards offense. UCLA's Arron Afflalo was chosen 27th by the Pistons, who could......

No, not really ESPN. Just one guy, John Hollinger. And not all LA basketball, just the local college guys awaiting their fate in Thursday’s NBA draft. (In fact, given the deluge of Kobe stories that the Leader has been trumpeting, you would probably argue that ESPN’s love for the Lakers is only surpassed by its obscene coverage of Yankees-Red Sox). Hollinger, ESPN’s resident stats guru, published an article today (currently Insider free preview) with......

The odds of winning the California SuperLotto jackpot are 1 in 41,416,353. The odds of the Clippers winning tonight’s NBA draft lottery are not quite as infinitesimal at 1 in 200, but still seem highly unlikely. The prize? It’s not quite a gazillion dollars, but in basketball terms, it is close: the chance to choose either 35-year old Ohio St. center Greg Oden and Texas swingman Kevin Durant, two of the most hyped players......

Even though Los Angeles doesn't have an NFL team, that doesn't mean this weekend's draft was irrelevant. Unless, of course, you're Mr. Irrelevant, but we'll get to that in a moment. Unlike most major cities in this country, LA is the only one that suffers a net loss of talent whenever the draft happens. The closest team is the San Diego Chargers, who didn't exactly have exciting picks. Choosing LSU wideout Craig Davis over USC's......